A switched-mode power converter (also referred to as a “power converter”) is an electronic power processing circuit that converts an input voltage waveform into an output voltage waveform. The waveforms are typically, but not necessarily, dc waveforms, controlled by periodically switching power switches or switches coupled to an inductive circuit element. The switches are generally controlled with a conduction period “D” referred to as a “duty cycle.” The duty cycle is a ratio represented by the conduction period of a switch to a switching period thereof. Thus, if a switch conducts for half of the switching period, the duty cycle for the power switch would be 0.5 (or 50 percent).
Feedback controllers associated with power converters manage an operation thereof by controlling the conduction period of a switch employed therein. Generally, a feedback controller is coupled to an output of a power converter in a feedback loop configuration (also referred to as a “control loop” or “closed control loop”) to regulate an output characteristic of the power converter such as an output voltage. A switched-mode power converter typically receives a dc input voltage Vin from a source of electrical power at input nodes thereof and provides a regulated output voltage Vout at output nodes thereof to power, for instance, a microprocessor coupled to the output nodes of the power converter.
Switched-mode power converters are key components in many commercial and military systems for the conversion, control and conditioning of electrical power, and often govern performance and size of the end system. Power density, efficiency and reliability are key metrics used to evaluate power converters. Magnetic devices including transformers and inductors used within power converters contribute a significant percentage to the volume and weight and, hence, determine power density, efficiency, and reliability.
An integrated magnetic device (also referred to as “integrated magnetics”) provides a technique to combine multiple inductors and/or transformers in a single magnetic core and is specifically amenable to interleaved power converter topologies where the input or output current is shared among multiple inductors. Integrated magnetics offers several advantages such as improved power density and reduced cost due to the elimination of separate magnetic components, reduced switching ripple in inductor currents, and higher efficiency due to reduced magnetic core and copper losses.
For applications where higher currents (typically greater than 50 amps (“A”)) are required at low (typically less than 3.3 volts (“V”)) to moderate (typically about 12 V) voltages at high efficiency and power density, a two-phase interleaved power converter might be inadequate to meet switching ripple or response time specifications on inductor currents and output voltage. A larger output capacitor can reduce the output ripple voltage, but will increase the volume and weight of the power converter and result in sluggish transient response to dynamic load conditions. Multi-phase, interleaved power converters beyond the present two-phase designs may advantageously be employed for such applications. Utilizing multiple discrete magnetic cores (e.g., E-cores) to implement multi-phase interleaved power converters and simply paralleling multiple power converters, however, increases component count and interconnect losses resulting in poor power density and efficiency.
To meet response time requirements in systems operating with high current and very low bias voltage, such as 1.5 volts or lower, it is often necessary to place a voltage regulator module in the form of a dedicated dc-dc converter in close proximity to the load. In this manner, an accurate supply voltage can be delivered to a sensitive load such as a microprocessor. Many voltage regulator modules in use today are based on a multi-phase buck power converter. In a multi-phase buck power converter, the duty cycle D equals the ratio of the output voltage Vout to the input voltage Vin thereof. Microprocessors for desktop computers, workstations, and low-end servers, often employ voltage regulator modules to work with a 12 volt input. In laptop computers, the voltage regulator modules often directly convert the battery charger voltage of 16 to 24 volts down to the microprocessor voltage of 1.5 volts. For future microprocessors, the supply voltage is expected to decrease to below one volt to further reduce power dissipation and to accommodate the fine line geometries used to form the integrated circuits that form microprocessors and the like.
For the aforementioned applications, a multi-phase power converter (e.g., a multi-phase buck power converter) is often employed to operate at very small duty cycles to regulate a low output voltage from a substantially higher input voltage. At very small duty cycles, both the transient response and the efficiency of a multi-phase power converter may be compromised. To improve power conversion efficiency without compromising transient response, alternative topologies that extend duty cycles to a higher level in such applications with a high ratio of input to output voltage would be advantageous.
An additional limitation to using magnetic cores (e.g., E-cores) for high current applications is the detrimental effects of fringing magnetic flux due to the limited cross-sectional area of a gapped center leg of the magnetic device. Fringing magnetic flux represents the magnetic flux component that strays away from the main magnetic path and spills into a core window, inducing eddy currents in the windings of the magnetic device. This results in increased losses (e.g., denoted by I2R, wherein “I” represents the current and “R” represents the resistance) in the windings and reduced efficiency. To reduce the induction of eddy currents due to fringing magnetic flux, the windings are placed a safe distance from an air gap, resulting in poor conductor utilization of the core window area. In addition, fringing magnetic flux represents a loss of inductance which results in increased switching ripple in the winding currents, leading to higher losses and poorer efficiencies.
Multi-phase, interleaved power converter topologies can thus provide highly desirable power conversion designs, not only for their small size, but also for their ability to provide fast response times for a controller regulating the output voltage thereof with minimal output ripple voltage. A power converter that combines the advantages of an interleaving, multi-phase power converter topology with a circuit arrangement that can be implemented to operate at higher levels of duty cycle while substantially reducing the magnetic flux variation in a magnetic core, and with integrated magnetics is not presently available for the more severe applications that lie ahead.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a power converter topology that employs switches that can operate with higher levels of duty cycle, that can reduce magnetic flux changes in a magnetic core of a magnetic device thereof, and overcomes the deficiencies in the presently available power converters.